Son of Justice (13 page)

* * *

Although the tower where the Minith waited was only five kilometers from their drop-off point, the tunnels the team traveled weren’t set out in a straight line. Because of the winding path they followed, the distance they traveled before reaching their final destination was significantly longer. Eli estimated they had traveled nearly eight kilometers by the time they arrived at the cave opening that was closest to their goal. Everyone was covered in sweat and breathing in ragged gasps when Free finally stopped running. Unlike the humans, he didn’t seem tired at all.

They had not lost anyone along the way, though it had been touch and go in a few spots. They were given one brief reprieve early on when they encountered their first Telgoran. To Eli’s surprise, Free stopped when he met the other native—a female—and he took his time explaining in some detail the reason why he was leading a group of armed humans through their territory. When she heard of their mission and noted that an attack on a group of Minith waited at the far end of their journey, she stood still for nearly a minute before nodding. Only after receiving the nod, did Free begin running again. Eli wondered if he had just had his first experience with the decision-making ritual that was known as
Shiale
.

After that initial encounter, they did not stop for any other Telgorans, although they passed dozens more along the way. As they progressed through the caverns, the number of Telgorans steadily increased. By the end of their trek, the tunnel walls were lined with hundreds of the planet’s native inhabitants. Apparently, they wanted to witness the unexpected human procession first hand. It was both a strange and marvelous experience for Eli, and he scanned his team for how they were handling this turn of events as he fought to find his breath. For the most part, what he saw on the faces around him seemed to mirror his own thoughts. Wonder. Uncertainty. Relief. Exhaustion.

He estimated that the entire journey, from the time they left their armor lying in the dirt, to the time they reached the exit point, took them just under ninety minutes. Not bad considering everything that had happened since then, but not great. They were behind schedule and needed to hurry. Ellison had to be nearing the halfway point to the tower by now, even at his slower speed.

Eli took another deep breath and stood straight before announcing, “Get ready. We move out in five minutes.”

* * *

“They’ve reached the midway point.”

“But why so slow? And why the unusual approach, Brek? What purpose could that serve?”

“There’s no purpose in it, Twigg,” Brek responded. The boredom was evident in his voice. “The humans are being overly cautious. That’s all.”

“Hmmm.” Twigg pondered the situation. The human, Jayson, had shown aggression and intelligence in the past. Caution, especially caution to this degree, was out of character. Something did not feel right. “Do we have a link with the pacer attached to the unit?”

Brek issued a grunt and casually entered the command sequence for the pacer into the keypad behind which he lazed. He waited several seconds, then repeated the commands, this time with a bit more urgency. Twigg watched with increased interest.

“The pacer attached to this unit isn’t responding.”

“Check it again.”

“I’ve checked it three times. It is either damaged or out of range.” Alarms began going off in Twigg’s head at the news.

“Send another pacer out immediately,” he instructed the other sergeant. “Private, pass word to the soldiers below to remain alert. The enemy is still on track for a direct frontal approach. We’re tracking them on our monitor, but we’ve lost our visual link.”

“Yes, Sergeant.”

“Let me know when we have the replacement pacer on target, Brek, and bring up the visual on your monitor.”

“Fifteen minutes,” Brek replied with disinterest.

* * *

The tower sat two hundred meters to the southwest of the cave opening, which was perfect. They were behind the tower, hidden from the Minith’s line of sight. The pacer that had followed them into the Telgoran underground was at the rear of their line, still well back from the cave entrance, and Eli hoped its signal wouldn’t give their position away. Nothing at the tower indicated they had been detected. At least not yet.

From his vantage point at the mouth of the cave, Eli noted the dozen Minith warriors were arranged on a semicircular platform that fronted the tower. While the tower itself rose five meters or so from the desert floor, the platform where the Minith waited was only three meters high. The height provided the defenders with a clear view and unobstructed firing lanes. The platform had a defensive barrier on the west-facing side that offered protection from a random shot that might come their way. Fortunately, Eli noted with excitement, the back of the platform—the side where his team would approach—was unprotected.

He took a few moments to envision in his mind’s eye how he wanted this to play out, then crawled backward slowly from the opening. When he reached a safe point, he stood up and turned to face his team. And Free.

“Okay, listen up,” he began. “Our target is two hundred meters southwest. We’re going to exit the tunnel and proceed due south. Then we’re going to turn west and approach from the rear of the tower in a side-by-side line formation.

“You’ll notice this as soon as you exit the tunnel, but there’s a raised platform on the far side of the tower with a dozen Minith. They’re facing west and their attention will probably remain in that direction since that’s where they expect us to be. We’re going to move quietly, but we also need to move quickly. I’ll move out first, so just follow my lead. With luck, they won’t know we’re there until we start firing.”

Benson raised a hand, asked, “What if they spot us sooner?”

“If they see us, don’t hesitate to light them up. We’re well within weapons range now.”

He took time to look at each member of his team. Received affirmation from each that they understood.

He then turned to Free and handed him his pulse rifle. The Telgoran took it and handed Eli his agsel staff in return.

“What are you doing, Jayson?”

Eli held up a “just a minute” hand to Benson while he relayed instructions to Free. He told him to follow behind the last human and also gave the Telgoran a quick, thirty-second lesson on how to aim and fire the pulse weapon. Like all of their weapons on this exercise, it was set to a nonlethal pulse, so the risk of him causing any real damage to the Minith—or to the humans with whom he traveled—was minimal. When he finished, he turned to his team.

“It was a condition I agreed to earlier. In exchange for his help, he wanted a chance to shoot some Minith.” Eli grinned and hefted the agsel staff, testing its weight. “It seemed like a reasonable enough request. How could I refuse?”

“So, you’re going to charge a tower of armed Minith carrying an agsel staff?”

“Why not? The Telgorans did it for years before we came along,” Eli replied. “They charged Minith defenders who wielded
real
weapons. They did it knowing it was suicide, but that never stopped them. He’s earned the right to shoot some volts into one or two of the guards waiting for us outside.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Benson admitted. “Besides, I’ve seen how well you handle a staff.”

“All right then. Everyone ready?”

Eli got nods all around. He spun the staff slowly, getting a feel for the weapon, and walked to the cavern entrance. He looked over his shoulder, saw the others taking their positions. He hoped they wouldn’t be disqualified for enlisting Free in the upcoming attack, but there was nothing he would change. The Telgoran had helped them reach this point. He had earned his place with their group.

He took a deep breath and concentrated on settling his thoughts, focusing on what needed to be accomplished in the next few minutes. He settled into a semi-calm state and allowed his body and mind to relax. He was as ready as he would ever be.

Without a conscious thought, he was out the entrance and running south, almost at full speed. To his surprise, it felt good to be moving again. The earlier sprint through the caverns hadn’t drained all of his strength. His muscles were loose, his legs were still strong, and he was eager to cover the ground ahead.

He kept his attention divided between the ground and the tower that was at his right-front. The two o’clock position, his dad would have said. He spotted no problems and quickly found himself with the tower at the three o’clock position. He turned toward the rear of their target and slowed to a determined walk. He looked to his right and noted with satisfaction that his team was exactly where they should be—in a line next to him, weapons trained on the Minith backs a hundred meters ahead. Free was positioned on the far end of the line, his weapon also pointed exactly where it should be.

None of the Minith turned in their direction as they approached the tower.

When they reached a point only twenty meters from their objective, Eli slowed . . . halted . . . dropped to one knee. His team followed suit, but kept their weapons aimed firmly on the broad backs that were conveniently arranged in a line just ahead. The purple fabric that was incorporated into their battle uniforms made the Minith excellent targets. Eli knew they could easily take out every one of them now without suffering any casualties of their own.

But the door to the tower grabbed his attention.

The initial plan had only focused on the Minith aligned along the platform ahead. The doorway leading into the tower now called out to him like a siren’s song. Sergeant Twigg was probably up there.

Eli quickly revised the plan.

* * *

“The second pacer is coming up on the humans,” Brek called out. Twigg turned away from the viewing window and approached the monitor where Brek sat.

“Bring up the visual.”

Brek didn’t answer. He merely entered the appropriate commands into the system and watched as the screen filled with a view of the desert floor rushing past. The pacer raced from the west at a height of ten meters as it approached. Twigg watched over his peer’s shoulder as the humans came into focus. The small blobs aligned on the desert floor quickly grew in size as the pacer neared.

“Is he . . . carrying them?” Brek’s question confirmed what his own eyes saw, though it didn’t help the sight make any more sense. The human carried two other humans under his left arm and had a third tucked under his right. The pacer slowed as it arrived and the visual honed in on the scene.

That was when Twigg saw the reality of the situation.

The suits being carried by the human were empty.

Twigg rocked back, stunned. Where were the humans?

“Pacer one is back online!”

“Show the visual! Now!” The order was unnecessary, he knew. Brek had seen what he had seen, was already bringing the view onto the screen. But the rage and concern that flooded him needed release, could not be restrained.

When the view came onto the screen, Twigg was confused. It showed three humans, dressed in the black garment they wore under their new armor. Two held weapons, the third—Jayson, he noted—carried only a staff. They were standing outside a door. Jayson was in the process of opening it.

Recognition flooded into Twigg’s brain at the same moment as he heard the door below them being thrown open. The sound from below mirrored the actions he observed on Brek’s screen.

The humans had somehow reached the tower.
Impossible!

He heard the sound of weapons being fired outside. He heard the sound of boots racing up the steps that led to the top of the tower—where he and Brek waited. Somehow, what Twigg had previously considered impossible had just become reality.

The Minith sergeant snarled in frustration and slammed a fist into the desktop. His next move was to grab the pulse rifle that he had leaned against the wall earlier—the rifle he had never needed to use when overseeing this particular exercise. The overwhelming desire to pull a trigger and inflict pain on another being had never been stronger.

* * *

Jayson rushed up the circular stairway, intent on reaching the top as quickly as possible. He heard his team firing on the Minith outside as they had been instructed. He wanted to take the tower, but taking out the soldiers on the platform was paramount. That was their primary objective.

They were a third of the way up the stairs when they met a Minith private headed down. The look of surprise on the private’s face lasted only moments—just long enough for Benson to fire his weapon. They stepped over the twitching form and continued upward.

Eli reached the doorway at the top of the staircase and paused. By now, those inside would have been alerted to their presence; would have had time to prepare.

He looked at Benson and Childes. Both held their weapons up, ready for the door to swing open so they could pour volts into the room beyond.

“I’m going in low and to the right,” Eli whispered. He was apprehensive about what waited for them on the other side of the door, but also eager to find out. He had no doubt that the team below had taken out their targets—they were too large and easy to miss. Now, he, Benson and Childes just had to finish the job. “Be prepared for shots headed out when the door opens.”

Both men nodded, took up positions on either side of the door.

Eli crouched, twisted the door handle, and pushed. The door swung freely, and he followed its path, rolling into the room and to the right. As he expected, a shot passed immediately over his head. He continued moving forward and scanned the room for movement. He noticed Twigg directly in front of him. The Minith sergeant looked his way briefly, but kept his weapon aimed at the doorway. Brek was seated in front of a computer. He did not appear to be armed.

“The two of you outside the door,” Twigg called out, his weapon still aimed in that direction. “Put down your weapons immediately!”

In reply, Childes dodged around the frame and released a wild shot that passed over Twigg’s head. Twigg’s return fire was immediate and on target. Childes collapsed to the floor, his body twitching wildly as a result of the volts passing through his system.